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Uncle Mike

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Posts posted by Uncle Mike

  1. First of all, Darryl - I'm liking the Kübel more each time you show us updates. It makes me wanna unwrap and get into the Dragon kit I have stashed away.

    The Gunze ones aren't bad, but they lack a little drum detail in the center. The lugs are present, which is a plus. The Tamiya Beetle and Ghia wheels have slightly better detail, but they are the later-style 'open' wheels(with holes); the spare in the Beetle kit has an open center and lug bolt holes. The Hasegawa Kübel wheels are really nice IMO, but they are a little big and narrow; they represent the pre-1950 16"x 4" wheels.

    If you have a set of the Kübel wheels that you might not use, I'd swap you any of the others for them....I still need one more set for my 'barndoor' Bus projects.

    Guys: Exciting thread here, much info! Love this split, superb scaling. And there IS a Kubel!

    Awhile back, someone did a Hebmuller, bashed from a couple of 113 sedans...anyone recall that project? (maybe from an old copy of SAE?)

  2. Who builds a model of a subject they don't like? That's just weird.

    Yes, it IS weird. My daughter and I were in "Big Lots", a clearance store in nearby Merced. (CA.) There was a gondola display of model car kits, prices slashed to $4.00 each. She asked me if I was interested in this great sale.

    I told her, "No," as I wasn't planning any dioramas where I could use a model of my '55 F100 running over these Oriental front-wheel-drive jellybeans as I fantacise doing every time I fire it up...

    The hatred I have for unibodied, front wheel drive, 4 & V6 tin cans is monumental.

    Imagine, if you will: a world full of this type stuff, all the real cars gone...AaaGHH! It's happening!!!

  3. If you are finding AMT kits for $13 they must be old stock. The current kits from Round 2 are going for $18+.

    David

    I went into D's Music and Hobbies yesterday, (NOT a discount house!) and picked up a new sealed '51 Chevy convertible kit for $14.99. All AMT kits were $14.99- $16.99. This is Merced, CA. (right across the lot from Mervyn's Dep't store, who just went out of business.)

  4. 'German junk'? Biggs, I am apalled. On the other hand, the '34 Coupe idea is splendid! There is a lot of similarity here, and the chopped '34 would 'class-up' real nice.

    But my direction would be to start with the frame, clean off all the bracketry, fenders, etc., and dechrome the wire wheels. Paint everything nicely, then add the sparton body without windshield, in the prep of a mid-1930s Indy car...

  5. 'German junk'? Biggs, I am apalled. On the other hand, the '34 Coupe idea is splendid! There is a lot of similarity here, and the chopped '34 would 'class-up' real nice.

    But my direction would be to start with the frame, clean off all the bracketry, fenders, etc., and dechrome the wire wheels. Paint everything nicely, then add the sparton body without windshield, in the prep of a mid-1930s Indy car...

  6. As to "plumnuts" comment, a bondo type polyester filler works really well on metals. That's sorta what they were made for . Not a criticism of you plumnuts.

    It's actually nicer on metals than plastic, because it adher's really well when prepped properly and the metal has more resistance to being sanded away. Plastic you have to be very careful with, that's why I use quite a bit of the "Red" "GLAZING AND SPOT PUTTY" by Bondo. It's a lacquer based filler and attacks the plastic for adhesion really well, sand's and finishes easily, and takes primers nicely.

    ********************************************************************************

    **************

    I don't step on toes, so in advance, 'Treehugger' and 'plum': I hate bondo. I was a lead ("led") user since body solder in a can was available. I have forced myself to glaze stuff with 'bondo', and have kept an open mind all the way through to 'tiger hair'...The red glaze I have found to shrink, (much like the nitrocellulose properties it contains) so much I wondered why I ever squeezed that plastic sh!t in the first place!

    Bondo doesn't stick to primer. Glazing does. Fiberglass doesn't stick to metal. Bondo does! Bondo the metal, then apply the fiberglass resin. I use a pick-hammer and file (1:1) in the trade.

    But as for the matter at hand: The "magic stuff" comes in a tube, much like the 'bondo' stuff...BUT! It's acrylic. Can only be had through Automotive Paint stores, it is a large tube, (20+ ounce) Acryl or Acrylic is the name, and it is Shrink-Proof. Sands nice, finishes beautifully. This is the good stuff for 'white metal'. Try it!

  7. Tim Boyd had an excellent how-to article in SAE back around 1999-2000 about kit bashing the Revell 32 frame with the AMT 29 roadster body. I'll look up the issue & post it later.

    ;)

    There have been 'issues' with the fitting of that body with the Revell frame, all right. Just like the 1:1 scale! (I'm talking about real steel bodies on Gennie '32 rails, or 'Just-A-Hobby' rails or the nice examples from American Stamping.

    There are different issues with fiberglass bodies, some simple and some in the "Why-did-I-spend-money-on-this-$@#! fiberglass body???" department.

    The frame can be flattened on top, (tedius, even with my frame jig) or a pair of wood slats can be fashioned to fit the curve of the frame, and the flat subframe of the body. Then, the frame gets 'pinched' at the firewall, to fit the cowl's narrowness. The rear 'kick' of the frame is next, with a slight curve-in to clear part of the subframe, and get inside the wheel wells.

    On the model, the same things are apparent. But the fit is critical, if you want a highboy that looks like it was planned that way...otherwise, you will have to live with a bad fit between body & frame, usually compromised by poor engine fit, wheelbase too long, (or too short, if using the AMT Vicky frame) and a hood that looks too long. Trial fitting is paramount, as you will see when setting everything up.

    The thing I liked most was the fidelity to scale. Revell '32 frame is close, AMT '29 Roadster body is also right in there. Windshield has to be worked, but is close enough to be leaned back and 'adjusted'.

    The Ala Kart interior is O.K. if you like that 'moderne' look, but the Monogram '32 Roadster seat with headrest was so authentic I had to go that way. (a lot of cutting and gluing, but worth the effort)

    A flathead car, it had to have the rightstuff. Now back to our program...

  8. Strange encounter (for me, anyway) occurred when the 'gang' was invited to bring their 'first build', if they still had it. The group was diverse, but the most verbal guy said he'd started many years before, so I felt comfortable in taking my first build, which was a 1/32 scale Revell 'Highway Pioneers' Center Door Model T sedan. That's where it started...

    Inspired by a Hot Rod Magazine article that featured Jack Chrisman's Model A Sedan (the 1954 article was entitled "Torrid '29 Tudor") I began by chopping the top, rounding the flat edges with a fingernail file, cutting 'B' & 'C' pillars, and converting it into a 2-door sedan, using the cowling from the 69 cent Revell 'hot rod', also a 'Highway Pioneer'. The hood, radiator shell, and cowl were removed, and the '32 shell substituted, after grinding it flat and converting it to a '29 A. Flathead V8 was fitted, with the tranny and rear end, shortened driveshaft...

    Front suspension also went under, with some cutting of the front spring. Fenders got sanded and reshaped, and the car painted black, with the top patch made from a playing card, painted white.

    All the cutting was done with a Vise-gripped hot needle, warmed on Mom's gas stove burner.

    The car looked terriffic on the shelf, where it sat for many years...I found it in '96, when unloading Control Line airplane parts stored eons ago...

    Took it to show the guys...The verbal guy came out with his '59 Impala, unpainted glue bomb, with every decal, glued-on louvers, lakes pipes, spotlights, and all...He took immediate discourse with my sedan, as it was "1/32, that doesn't count...yatta, yatta, yatta..." Guess I started too soon! I recalled that 6 years after this build, AMT came out with some really BIG 1/25 models!

    When I started, 1/32 was what we had. One of the guys said, "Hey, that's Chrisman's car. Saw it at Bakersfield Smokers last year. Looks just like it." (at least someone noticed)

    My earlier ones were balsa. (1951?) Ace, Hudson Miniatures...Ace had some hot rods that were 'cute'.

  9. George..........you think the 62 Dodge Dart was ugly ???????????? :D Me too !!!!!!!!! She was not one of Virgil Exner's finest. But...........when you dropped in a 413 Max Wedge, coupled to a four speed gear box, she could put a lot of fear in the competition. I have some stats here that says, equipted this way she could do 0-60mph in 5.8 seconds and 14.4 seconds in the quater mile. Not too shabby for 1962...... :lol:

    By the way........thanks for the good comments. B)

    Sully

    Sully:

    Great job on making the Dart look like it really did. I think (know!) the performance figures are off, however. In 1962, friend Al Driscoll bought a black 413, dual long-rams w/Torquflite trans. This was a mid- 12-second car, speed was 102-106.

    I bought a '63 Dodge 330 sedan (426 Short Ram Max Wedge) w/ Torquflite trans that I got into mid-11s that year. Acceleration was staggering...

    I ran a '56 Ford 292 (convertible!) that turned mid-14s, 92 mph.

    My present '55 Ford F100 w/smallblock Chev turns mid-13s, will do 0-60 in 4.3 seconds. (not a 'Bomb')

    I think a 413 that would take 5.8 seconds to go 60 mph would be in serious need of a tuneup: If I raced Driscoll's 413 with my F100, he'd pass me like a freight train passing a tramp!

  10. Steve, hi.

    Being in California, we were Drag Racers first and foremost, from '56 on. Our big strip (NHRA) was Fremont, later renamed 'Baylands'. Hayden Profitt campaigned a 421 Pontiac there, (actually 3 cars, '62s, tudor sedans with the 8-lug aluminum wheels, M-22 Muncie 4-speeds, and his was only 1 of a stable of Pontiacs then! They all carried front wheels in 2nd gear, low 12-second machines!

    In San Jose/Santa Clara, (15 miles away) there were Pontiacs running around the streets with the name "TIN INDIAN" from "TIN INDIAN #1" all the way thru "TIN INDIAN #26"!

    Pontiacs ruled in those days, and they were in big numbers on the street!

    I have a guy in Southern Calif. that is a serious Pontiac Performance Purveyor, I got parts from him when I rebuilt my nephew's 421 Bonneville last year. I will post his name and info on this thread in the morning. He is friendly and on the leading edge of Pontiac history and technology.

    O.K., Steve...Guru's name is Bruce Fulmer, Rock-n-Roll Engineering. www.pontiacengines.com

    Phone# is 909-370-0389

    Bruce was very helpful with parts sources, blueprint values, and is a Drag Race Veteran.

    Tell him 'Uncle Mike' said hi, and Nephew's 421 came out perfect.

  11. ..... in '62 Arlen Vanke drove 4 different '62 Pontiac SD Catalina's for Knafel Pontiac. A Black Conv. called "Black Wirlwind", a Silver 2Dr Sedan called "Tin Indian", and twin Red Hardtops, Tin Indian I" and Tin Indian Too"

    I'm looking for any photos of that '62 Silver 2dr Sedan "Tim Indian" for a new project. Any help would be appreciated. My internet searches for that car have been a bust so far.

    TIA - Steve

    Steve, hi.

    Being in California, we were Drag Racers first and foremost, from '56 on. Our big strip (NHRA) was Fremont, later renamed 'Baylands'. Hayden Profitt campaigned a 421 Pontiac there, (actually 3 cars, '62s, tudor sedans with the 8-lug aluminum wheels, M-22 Muncie 4-speeds, and his was only 1 of a stable of Pontiacs then! They all carried front wheels in 2nd gear, low 12-second machines!

    In San Jose/Santa Clara, (15 miles away) there were Pontiacs running around the streets with the name "TIN INDIAN" from "TIN INDIAN #1" all the way thru "TIN INDIAN #26"!

    Pontiacs ruled in those days, and they were in big numbers on the street!

    I have a guy in Southern Calif. that is a serious Pontiac Performance Purveyor, I got parts from him when I rebuilt my nephew's 421 Bonneville last year. I will post his name and info on this thread in the morning. He is friendly and on the leading edge of Pontiac history and technology.

  12. I had built model cars for years, when young...all the way 'til '62, when we started drag racing actively.

    In 1976, I opened a Hot Rod Shop, in Campbell, California. Frame jig was tied up one-after-another, and old hot rods were being totally revamped as well as fresh ones being built.

    A 40-year old guy came in one day, all eyes, "Wow, you do it all here?" I assured him that 'we' did, and he stated that his company had recently incorporated Profit-Sharing, and he just got a '32 Roadster from his uncle. It was an old hot rod, and he wanted it to look like "one he had seen in a movie..."

    I did a quick sideview sketch on the blackboard in the office, he looked, but said he 'couldn't see it'. I erased the sideview, and did a quick 1/4 frontal isometric, which he said he couldn't see either.

    I said I'd bring in a customer's Highboy for him to look at, and he could drop by the next week.

    That evening, I dropped into D&J Hobbies, 1/2 mile from the shop.

    I bought a Monogram '32 Roadster, an AMT '53 Ford F100, and a Monogram '40 Ford pickup, for parts.

    Upstairs at the shop, I had my Control Line Model Airplane hobby room...well equipped.

    I cut the fenders off the cast-in frame of the '32, and added some Bristol Board for the front framerails...Mixed & matched 'steel' wheels from the '53 pickup, and the flathead from the '40. Red engine block, same for the tranny and wheels, '53 center hubcaps. Hairpin wishbones from piano wire, ('lead-out' wire from Airplane stock) Black Pactra 'Namel, and a nice Quick Change rear from some stuff "Howard the Duck" (the upholstery guy) gave me. (Howie laid a whole 2 big cardboard boxes full of old Model Car stuff on me)

    When the guy with the Deuce came in, I showed him the model of the Highboy. He shrieked, "YES! This is IT!"

    A $20 bill plus some glue, putty, and Pactra 'Namel not only sold a $3K job, but also got me back into building models of the hot rods and pickups and Customs, and...well, you know.

  13. I'm 66 this month, been building since Revell was 1/32 scale, started modelling cars in 1952, at 10 yrs of age.

    Built many of the Revell "69-cent hot rod", first serious kitbash was the Revell 1921 Center Door Model T Sedan, chopped top with hot needle (over gas stove) and used running gear, big & little tire sets, and Flathead V8 from one of those 69-cent hot rod kits!

    Laid off in 1962, last kit was the "Big Deuce", poured in red. (did it as a Highboy)

    Regained interest in '78, a strange story. I'll tell it in a different post.

    My wife builds, too. She's 53, looks and acts way younger. She likes MoPars, but digs it all. I am blessed.

  14. Hi, guys.

    My wife detected a virus in my PC, had to uninstall Windows and AOL. She backed all the info up on discs, but didn't notice the toolbar favorites...

    Yep! Stuka Stunt Works (Control Line model airplane site) was easy to find again, so was Ford Barn;

    Model Cars Mag was not listed on standard AOL search! So I looked up "JARIUS WATSON". Voila!

    Good thing Jarius is famous!

    By the way, the old addy is now renewed; this caused complications. "Model Car Magazine Forum" is now "Forums", so that stumbled me.

    But here I am, back again...("I had a flat on the freeway, and hot rods don't carry spares"..."I ran outa gas, and my wife had to walk all the way to the gas station in high heels"..."I burned up both sets of points, and Kragens ("Shucks, Checkers") didn't have flathead parts!") :)

  15. Mark is correct. I have at least one copy of every release of the 66 Buick Wildcat, including the original, and none of them have the road test parts. The original 65 GP had them, but I don't know if any subsequent releases did. However, the Wildcat is missing 2 parts from the original release. It had seperate side windows that you could use if you wanted to. They're mentioned on the plan for the Customizing series issue, but they weren't in the kit. I can only assume the mold containing them is lost.

    Thanks, guys. Reason for the question (on 'Road Test' parts) in Buick kit was the kit my son had, with that road test wheel pictured on the box! I am sure of the Buick ancestry, as he sent me the Buick Nail-type engine for my model of the Ivo 'T' I was doing at the time.

    But if it was indeed in the Pontiac kit, I will continue my pursuit. Again, THANKS!

  16. That's an AMT kit, not Revell, & is the same kit as mentioned by Ryan. You're probably looking at the recent Dirtrack Racecars private run reissue of it.

    The kit was first issued in the 70's & can be built as a Grant King sprint car, or as a 70's era super modified, (the "wedge shaped" version), & has been reissued several times since then. It can also be backdated with a bit of work, (removal of the roll cage & replacing it with a roll bar or no roll bar depending on which era you want to replicate, different tires with grooves in them for dirt, different rims, engine/induction swaps, etc.), into an earlier sprint car from the 50's or 60's. Either way it is a nice kit.

    You'll really need to replace the front tires with something wider & more appropriate for the car than what's in the box. Those front tires are the old AMT Firestone Supreme street tires of all things!! They are also too narrow for the rims provided, You'll also probably want to either cut grooves in the rear slicks or consider replacing those.

    On the positive side, it is a very nice kit, (representative of some of the excellent but often overlooked new tools AMT did in the 70's), that builds up into a great & era correct replica, (tire reissue problems excluded), of either a sprint car or a super modified, (including different roll cage pieces & other difference between the 2 besides just the body panels), & includes 4 different decal sheets, which some or possibly all of are real life race cars. I know at least 2 of them are but can't recall which ones. The decal sheets are small, but most sprint cars in that era didn't carry a lot of decals, so with some additional minor research you can nail the cars down very closely.

    In short, buy the kit. It's a fun build, (or was when I first built it in the 70's, I haven't started on my reissued one yet). Plus it's a limited run that was done 2 years ago, so it's probably getting a little scarce, & who knows when it will return?

    BTW, Monogram, (& later Revell using the same molds), did a series of very nice World Of Outlaw sprint cars in the 80's & 90's in 1/24 scale, if you're looking for newer era sprinters. A few of those have been slightly updated & reissued, & the older ones pop up at swapmeets, auction sites old kit dealers & the like all the time. Some can still be found at the occasional hobby shops even now.

    A Big 10-4, Mark. I wanted to replicate a 1956 CAE Sprint that my friend Rich Davis offered me in '77.

    This was an old flathead Sprint, CAE chassis, round nose, traditional tail, (hard fuel tank) and I wanted to put it on the street. (I had a hot rod shop)

    This CAE car had been 'updated' to 301 CID smallblock Chevy, but still had its in-and-out box, and Halibrand Champ rear.

    I stepped aside for a racer friend that needed a new 'ride' that season. Wish now that I hadn't.

    So, I'll build the model! (last time I pulled parts, I had a whole tabletop of scattered pieces, not as simple as one would think!)

    But it is a worthwhile project, and I'm now torn between what I was gonna do (a Street version!) or a true-to-era race car. (I had my '27 T Highboy Roadster set up with a hidden receiver (hitch) for the 2-wheel trailer! Imagine an open-wheel fenderless CRA-type Roadster towing a Legal Sprint to the races)

    We did more outrageous things than that in the 'Shop Years'...(1976-1987)

  17. in my latest truckster project i needed a long moon gas tank to put in the bed, so i made one. i looked in search but, didn't find a topic on making these, so here is my way. i made a ram out of wood and used a sink adapter about the right diameter. i heated up a .040 sheet of evergreen plastic and pushed it through. viol! end caps. now just glue them on the end of a .375 piece of round tube the length you need. i made the mounts out of the same sheet of plastic. what'd ya think.

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    I think you're a genius, Gary. GREAT shot with the convex buck trick! I also build the no-fender stuff...real and model. Now you can teach me to post some thumbnails like these, and I can show my new buds here pix of what I've been doin'!

  18. I was cleaing out my work bench storage cabinet and I found one of my 58 Plymouth Belvederes. I am in the process of making Christine as she is all fixed up by Arnie not the original owner. I have the interior all done, used the DVD as reference B). the chasis and most of the drivetrain is done too. to duplicate the 'dual quads' I am using the intake manifold and the carbs and the dual air cleaners from the 57 300C but the carbs wil be attached directly to the intake instead of those strange things that connect to from the carbs to the cleaners as they look in the 57 300C. I will post photos later today I need to get some batteries for the camera.

    I hope you are doing a figure of the mullet-head bully running for his life just ahead of Christine's front bumper! (Loved that part; actually, the revenge on "Moochy" was even better: Imagine being a shitheel, and the Grim Mopar is shearing her fenders to get at you! Closer, with every wedging thrust! Your miserable deeds rush through your mundane mind, 2 more thrusts and the 'Iron Maiden' will HAVE YOU!)

    I loved that movie. Anyone that's not a Christine Fan is the "ANTICHRYSLER"!

  19. Here's the third attempt. The flame shapes are not really smooth, they're more psychotic and edgy, but I'm ok with that. (reflects my personality, maybe?) The first shading layer (purple) came out clean and even, but then I got too heavy-handed and lost control of the second (blue) layer. The flame tips are lavender, but they need to be dark blue or some other color. I'm going to change the approach to the blue layer to allow the purple to show through more. I think if I start the airbrush at the inner base of each claw and just pull the brush to the tips it will give more direction and "motion" to the flames:

    FlamedRiv6.jpg

    Hint: For a great mask, use Parafilm, available thru Micro-Mark. Parafilm is (was) from the medical field. It is a sheet of plasticised material that cuts well with a sharp X-Acto (Testors #11 Black blade is sharper) Flame masks are ideal with Parafilm.

    I've also painted flames for years...I argued with Dean Jeffries in 1956 about the "non-fire" look that his 'crablike' forks had...later, I adapted that style myself!

    I apologized to Dean hundreds of times since. He just said it was all he expected from a "dumb kid"!

    George Barris took credit for that style of flame job, but it was Dean Jeffries who did it first.

    Barris's firsts were painted by Louis Stejanovich, in Barris's old shop (Lynnwood, CA) They looked nothing like crabs!

  20. :lol::lol::rolleyes: It needs 6" off the top....but I still love it :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

    Actually, Mike...Take another look. The tall top (all that glass!) is what gives it its charm! (and believability)

    It also retains its recognizability...the other "wagonizers" go nuts when this one rolls up.

    "Hey...that's a car like mine...!! But how...???" Just too cool!

  21. I did the "customizing kit" a few years ago. It was alright. I did it stock. I got rid of the front axle and filled in the engine block. It was pretty much out of the box except for a few detail techniques. I did my first fabric interior roof liner which came out nice.

    66WildcatFinished-Rear2.jpg

    Anybody know if they kept the 'bicycle-wheel monitor' in this kit? (it was a 'Road-and-Track' inspired device, a 'unicycle' trailer with some gauges to monitor road speed, acceleration distance, and braking distance. I remember it on the box art and in an earlier release. Looking for one of those!)

  22. Thanks for the comments guys........ ;)

    Can't enter it at our show Willy cause I'm a club member, but I just might bring it for display on the club table.

    Now, that's Cool! (around here, we have characters that enter the same model for months and years! Way Uncool)

    I have always admired the ethics of Modelers, (I mean REAL Modelers) and that's what kept me building.

    GREAT Mopar, by the way...Glad it will be displayed! Guys need to see this.

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